A faster and smoother ACB

In the relentless goal of giving more fluidity and continuity to the game, the ACB applies two major innovations to its regulations starting this season. The Super Cup held in Seville last weekend was the guinea pig in which the new rules were put into practice. With the exception of the last two minutes of the match, from now on the referees will no longer necessarily have to touch the ball at each throw-in or baseline. In turn, the direct reviews of the referees are reduced to give more power to the coaches, who will have two opportunities per game to claim the ‘Instant Replay’.

The quick ball kick

In the final between Madrid and Barcelona in the Andalusian capital, Sergi Llull handed the ball to the main referee on the touchline before starting the attacking play. The Balearic escort did not remember that the previous touch of the orange ball of the authority on the track is no longer necessary. The so-called ‘quick ball throw-in’ will occur when a throw-in or baseline throw-in takes place in a team’s backcourt or when it is the result of an infringement.

The keys

A decision that still generates confusion and that many players do not share. «It is to put one more brown to the referees. He has many gaps, sometimes the ball goes and you serve almost from the stands. It’s a desire to reinvent basketball”, the Whites’ player confessed to ‘Relevo’. However, assumptions remain in which, as up to now, the arbitrator’s intervention will continue to be necessary. For starters, the new rule won’t apply in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. Nor in the same interval of extension. In addition, the quick serve may not be taken if the preceding action is a called foul or if the signal sounds for the following situations: a substitution, a time-out or an ‘Instant Replay’ review.

Dos ‘Challenge’

There, in video arbitration, lies another of the novelties in the regulations for the 2022-2023 season. The ACB wants to give coaches a greater role when it comes to going to the VAR of the basket. On 18/19 it was established that the technicians had one request, called ‘Challenge’, which is now extended to two. Both consultations will be maintained if the previous arbitration decision changes and will be lost if it is confirmed. In what precepts can the judges resort to the monitor? To check if a basket is two or three points, miss time on the clock, identify the author of a foul, point out an act of violence or if a foul or shot is within time.

As is the case with the quick serve, the heads of the bench may request the intervention of the video referee up to two times during the first 38 minutes. In the two finals, the referees will be able to go to the ‘Instant Replay’ in all the foreseen cases and the coaches will see a ‘Challenge’ reduced: if they had two, they will be able to request one in the last two minutes, and if they only had one left they will lose it . To request it, the technicians must go to the table with the word ‘Challenge’ while drawing a rectangle with their hands.